The present disclosure relates generally to electroplating. More particularly and in some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to electroplating operations that include thief electrodes.
Microelectronic devices, such as semiconductor devices, imagers, displays, storage media, and micromechanical components, are generally fabricated on and/or in microfeature wafers using a number of processes that deposit and/or remove materials from the wafers. Electroplating is one such process that deposits conductive, magnetic or electrophoretic layers on the wafers. Electroplating processes, for example, are widely used to form small copper interconnects or other very small sub-micron features in trenches and/or holes (e.g., less than 90 nm damascene copper lines). In electroplating, an electrical current is passed between the wafer, i.e., work electrode, such as a cathode, and one or more counter electrodes, such as an anode, in a manner that deposits material on a surface of the wafer.